Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Callahan: You know, you’re crazy if you think you’ve heard the last of this guy. He’s gonna suck again.

Bedard is a hard-throwing left-hander with the proverbial good stuff, but when you take a look at the complete package, it’s obvious he belongs in Boston about as much as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie belongs on an Abercrombie & Fitch billboard.

Bedard doesn’t like the media. He doesn’t like crowds. He doesn’t like attention. He doesn’t like day games. Some people wonder if he even likes baseball.

His disdain for the press is legendary…

...Bedard was in Seattle for 31?2 years, and by all accounts enjoyed his time in the laid-back Northwest. Indeed, his propensity to end up on the DL just before the trade deadline has led some to wonder if it was his way to thwart any possible deals to big-market teams.

“To me, that’s a sign he doesn’t want to be traded,” Jim Duquette, who was in the Orioles’ front office when Bedard was in Baltimore, told the Herald.

...Duquette, now with the MLB Network, said he “even tried to dissuade a couple of big-market clubs” from acquiring Bedard, a shocking admission from a former GM. Apparently, the other clubs took Duquette’s advice and shied away. Not the Sox. They dragged Bedard to Boston against his will, and now they will ask him to pitch them into the playoffs and beyond.

Reader Comments and Retorts

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

Bedard just doesn't like the press. He keeps his own counsel and has a very dry sense of humor, but is a major competitor and always wanted to play on a winner. Fans in Boston are smart enough to know this, and will hopefully give him space. If he's healthy (BIG IF), he'll do just fine.

I tried to search for "Érik Bédard" on BR but didn't get anywhere until I finally understood I needed to search for "Erik Bedard". Then I tried "Napoléon Lajoie" and "Éric Gagné" and it didn't work either.

Nothing important, but it would be fun if BF understood Spanish (mostly) and French (maybe) orthography.

As far as Bédard is concerned, I'm absolutely stunned by the lack of news concerning him in the province of Quebec. He's French Canadian but he's from Ontario, not Quebec, so that might be a reason. There's has been way more articles about Gagné in the past couple of years than there's been about Bédard. That shows how chauvinistic Quebeckers are. And this s**ks.

I'll say no again but I'll less likely to want to smack you in the nose with a newspaper while I do it. Even if we assume the Sox prefered top three is Beckett Lester and Bedard (not a big leap, I know) it comes down to Lackey vs. Wakefield and Miller right now. I'd be surprised if Lackey was not able to outpitch those guys and earn the post-season start.

...Duquette, now with the MLB Network, said he “even tried to dissuade a couple of big-market clubs” from acquiring Bedard, a shocking admission from a former GM. Apparently, the other clubs took Duquette’s advice and shied away. Not the Sox. They dragged Bedard to Boston against his will, and now they will ask him to pitch them into the playoffs and beyond.

I can't believe no one has commented on this. Is he saying he talked teams out of acquiring Bedard when Duquette was still with the Orioles? That's more than "shocking." It suggests he was putting the interests of other teams above his own. Too bad he can't be sued for GM malpractice.

Neither Lackey nor Miller is currently outpitching Wake, if you judge by ERA. Miller's close, but tends to top out at about 5 innings -- he's much less efficient in terms of pitch count, possibly because of inexperience. Lackey gives you the length, on his good days, but leaks runs consistently more rapidly.

On current form (may be different by Sept -- Wake may run out of gas -- but isn't bound to do so) Wake is the #3 pitcher unless Bedard is fit and good. I have hopes of him doing a 2003ALCS, minus the Aaron Boone ending, which Francona presumably has the sense to avoid -- if we need someone to go out and lose in the 11th, Wake has enough good conduct and long service medals now not to be the sacrificial lamb.

I think Duquette was supposedly doing that during this round of trade rumors. I didn't not read it as something he was doing while GM of the Orioles. If he was I think you can make a case that he deserves the Pete Rose/Joe Jackson treatment if he was.

Indeed, his propensity to end up on the DL just before the trade deadline has led some to wonder if it was his way to thwart any possible deals to big-market teams.

Ahhh, it led "some" to wonder. What a gutless indirect accusation. It seems like Callahan has been missing a "won't deal with media" target since Manny was traded. Everyone else is either too well liked by everyone or playing to well for this whiny act to get any traction with the fans. His only hope at one I guess is Bedard, so he's starting even before the first pitch and before any fan attachment.

I'm not sure I see the big deal with the Sox trading for Bedard. They gave up four minor-leaguers. Only two of them represent anything interesting.

One is a AA catcher who even his fans acknowledge doesn't have the bat to be a long-term big leaguer. The Sox have done a nice job in the last year addressing their catching situation in a way none of us would've imagined 14 months ago, when we thought they'd keep resigning Varitek until he was 50 years old. Saltalamacchia is quietly having a very good year, is young, his defense has been at least average, and he is cheap. Lavarnway is tearing it up in AAA, and even though his defense appears wobbly, he could be a cheap backup to Salty next year who can DH, give Gonzalez a day off once in a while, and be a strong PH off the bench.

The other guy was Chiang, who is having his first strong year with the bat in AA. It's his second year in AA, and while he is only 23, he is not young for the competition, and he was - at best - the third young option for RF for the Sox, behind Reddick and Kalich.

Bottom line: Bedard may not be healthy enough to pitch well the rest of the year - we'll find out soon - but the Sox needed somebody with the ability to pitch at a high level in October. They don't need another Paul Byrd - they have that in Miller/Wakefield/Weiland/Millwood. What you don't want is for the Red Sox to be playing the Rangers or Yankees, the series is tied 1-1, and game three is going to somebody they don't trust to pitch well. Right now, Lackey gets the ball for game 3 - it could be great, or it could suck. With Bedard, if he is healthy, he can be lights out (see his stats in May and June of this year, before the knee sprain). Then, you're up 2-1 with Lackey pitching Game 4, and Beckett and Lester following him. That's a good place to be.

I think Duquette was supposedly doing that during this round of trade rumors. I didn't not read it as something he was doing while GM of the Orioles. If he was I think you can make a case that he deserves the Pete Rose/Joe Jackson treatment if he was.

I certainly hope that's what he meant (of course, even that doesn't reflect well on him).

I guess you could charitably read it as super-backwards Jedi logic, that if the Orioles oversold an underperforming pitcher, in the future other teams would not be as willing to listen to their evaluations of their own players. "Oh, those Orioles; don't waste your time trading with them. There's this jerk in LA instead!"

During the rare times when he's healthy and on his game he is a beast and damn fun to watch, painting the corners with gas and dropping a nasty curve for strikes. If he's healthy in October he could make a huge impact. And I kind of enjoyed the cringy awkwardness of his postgame interviews with the O's.

I assume teams pay Duquette as an independent advisor and ask him who should I go after for my rotation, Jeremy Guthrie or Erik Bedard? And he says you would be happier with Guthrie. Then they say but I can get Bedard for minor league junk and he says , well it's your call.

I assume teams pay Duquette as an independent advisor and ask him who should I go after for my rotation, Jeremy Guthrie or Erik Bedard? And he says you would be happier with Guthrie. Then they say but I can get Bedard for minor league junk and he says , well it's your call.

One is a AA catcher who even his fans acknowledge doesn't have the bat to be a long-term big leaguer.

Well, someone forgot to inform Ned Colletti of that, he was RAVING about the kid on the radio here in L.A. yesterday. It was really rather sad, he honestly seemed to think he'd just acquired the solution to his catching problem ...

It was really rather sad, he honestly seemed to think he'd just acquired the solution to his catching problem ...

I wouldn't bank on it but I wouldn't be shocked if Federowicz became a solid regular catcher. He's good defensively and might be able to hit with enough power to at least have Miguel Olivo's or John Buck's career.

A media shy pitcher in the Boston pressure cooker seems like an odd fit. But all he has to be is better than two of Lackey, Wakefield, and Miller. Bedard was tough on the Sox as an Oriole if memory serves.

Bedard hasn't been pitching in Palookaville, against the Washington Generals. He was in the AL East, for God's sake. In his Balty days, he pitched (and well, per my recollection) against a variety of strong offensive Yankee, Red Sock, and Blue Jay teams. If he has some sort of social anxiety disorder, why would it only show up if he's wearing the laundry of a favorite?

If anything, he won't be pitching against the Red Sox, which may be a small positive factor for a pitcher.

So between starts, there will be more interview requests and Shank columns? He can't be told not to read the damn papers?

He's pitched in Fenway as a visitor, in front of a large, hostile crowd.

I understand the pressure if you're looked upon as a savior, as the #1 pitcher. But Bedard is not.

I think you're underselling things here. There's a reason a lot of people thought Greinke would not be a good fit for the Yankees or Red Sox, even though he's pitched in those ballparks before. It's one thing going in there for a weekend series, but the day-to-day existence in those cities and all that accompanies it may not be a good fit for certain types of individuals. Whether Bedard is that type I have no idea, and considering the state of the back end of the Red Sox rotation, it's certainly a set of dice I'm more than happy to see them roll.

I think the advantage to Bedard and the Sox here is that even if this IS an issue, for all intents and purposes this is just a long road trip for Bedard. While I think SoSh outlines some of the reason playing in Boston can be wearing I think that gets mitigated in this case by the short time span. It's not like Bedard is going to be buying a house or trying to settle down. I imagine he will be living in a hotel near the park for two months and the Sox will be on the road half the time.

The ancillary BS that Manny Ramirez brought up, the inability to go out for dinner, that sort of thing, I think would be a bigger problem over multiple years and have a wearing down effect. Over two months I think it's a bit more manageable.

There's a reason a lot of people thought Greinke would not be a good fit for the Yankees or Red Sox, even though he's pitched in those ballparks before. It's one thing going in there for a weekend series, but the day-to-day existence in those cities and all that accompanies it may not be a good fit for certain types of individuals.

I think Greinke may not have worked out because he's a good pitcher at the top of his game. If the Yankees acquired him, it would be at a tremendous cost of prospects or money, and pitching to justify that can be difficult.

No one thinks Bedard is going to win seven games in the last two months of the season, or pitch the Sox through a playoff series. Questioning this is like questioning whether a newly-acquired utility infielder can handle the pressure.

Here's an articleabout Bedard, in French, published in his hometown newspaper. He said all the "right" things.

-Boston was his favorite "road city".
-Pitching in the playoffs is one of his career goals
-Looking forward to live the Boston-Ny rivalry from the inside. Doesn't worry about the extra pressure, will go there and just do his best, etc.
-About his last start: arm was fine, needs to get used to the knee brace. Thinks it should hold fine until the season is over.

Globe Article with interview transcript from Bédard today. Like #41 wrote, he says all the right things and doesn't seem fazed at all. The whole deal with Bédard and the press seems like a disgusting kind of profiling based on him being A. an extreme introvert and B. a French Canadian. If he can stay on the mound, he'll be just fine.

My paternal grandfather was born in Quebec, but I hadn't really considered that as a connection. In any case, I've always liked Bédard so I'm glad to root for him on the Red Sox. I also hope that they can retain him after this season for another year or two. He took a below market deal to stay in Seattle this year because he was happy with the situation there, so hopefully he'll fit in on the Red Sox and consider a similar deal for next season to stay in Boston.

This is most definitely something you crap when under pressure whilst being online..

I don't care how much he dislikes the media, I have no doubt he was pretty pleased to be going from..well a really crap team to a team that considers anything less then winning the series a season failure. He's a competitor like all professional athletes and they all love to win, at nearly any cost.